design dilemma: can we make this built-in work?

Alright, all of you armchair designers. I need some design advice on a built-in in one of the bedrooms of our new house. There is this ginormous dresser/desk/bookshelf that I assumed would be moving with the previous owner. However, today she has all of her belongings packed up, and it appears that the built-in remains. So we need to decide if we can keep this thing and make it work, or if we need to scrap it. It takes up an entire wall of the bedroom that will likely be Kembe's room.

Mark and I are at odds with what to do with it. Mark thinks that it can be salvaged with a fresh coat of white paint. I am not so sure. While I generally like the idea of repurposing old furniture, I think there are some issues with both the design and the functionality. First of all, the drawers are rather shallow, and I'm not really sure what to do with those lower cabinets. We have a massive lack of closet space in this new house, and I don't think that this thing will really solve it, despite the fact that it takes up the entire wall of the bedroom. Also, I am really not crazy about the lines of this piece. I'm especially not a fan of the Western-style partition in the middle. And clearly, the glass bookshelves and the mirror need to go. I'm unconvinced that the design lines of this piece can make the transition to a modern design aesthetic.

What do you guys think? Do you have any creative ideas for how to transition this into something that can look nice in a boy's bedroom? is it possible to make this match our modern style?